Mental health deaths under-reported, says charity

The only certainty is that current reporting of deaths is confused and incomplete. The NHS places nearly half of all its young psychiatric patients in private psychiatric units and these are not subject to FoI requests.

A charity for bereaved families is demanding the government investigates the way deaths of young people in mental health units are recorded.

Research by Inquest suggests at least nine young people have died in England as in-patients since 2010.

Health Minister Alistair Burt told BBC Panorama he didn’t know the figure and is calling for further research.

The Department of Health has now accepted there have been at least four deaths.

‘Seeking assurances’

Since the interview with Panorama, Mr Burt, the minister for community and social care for England, has issued a statement saying: “Panorama’s investigation has unearthed questions about record-keeping and I’m seeking assurances from NHS England that they have the right processes in place for recording any such death and that lessons are learned.”

Image captionAlistair Burt says Panorama’s investigation has “unearthed questions” and is calling for further research

The department also says it wants to meet Inquest to resolve the discrepancy in the figures.

Inquest director Deborah Coles said: “My fear is there could be more deaths. Neither we nor the Department of Health knows.”

In a parliamentary answer last year, Mr Burt suggested there had been only one such death recorded by the Care Quality Commission. His predecessor, Norman Lamb, said there had been none.

The Department of Health says NHS England has recorded four deaths of young people “in an in-patient setting”.

Inquest aims to support people bereaved by a death in custody or detention, including psychiatric in-patients.

Through their own casework and Freedom of Information requests, Inquest discovered at least nine young people have died in mental health units and the true number could be higher.

Voluntary patients

The only certainty is that current reporting of deaths is confused and incomplete. The NHS places nearly half of all its young psychiatric patients in private psychiatric units and these are not subject to FoI requests.

And the Care Quality Commission, cited by the the Department of Health as collecting accurate data, is only notified of the deaths of young people who have been committed to hospital or sectioned.

This omits the deaths of voluntary patients, who make up a large part of the hospital population.

The NHS places nearly half of all its young psychiatric patients in private psychiatric units

Calling for statutory notification and an independent investigation when a child dies in a mental health unit, Ms Coles said: “How on earth can we learn if we don’t know the true picture and circumstances?

“If a child dies in prison, an independent investigation follows automatically. There isn’t that independent scrutiny given to these deaths.”

Inquest says in the absence of any centralised recording of child deaths it analysed the responses to 238 Freedom of Information requests to NHS Trusts, private providers, local safeguarding children boards, local councils, the Department for Education, the Department of Health and the Care Quality Commission.

Ms Coles said: “What’s been really shocking is how difficult it is to find the true picture of the number of children dying in psychiatric care.”

Panorama – I’m Broken Inside: Sara’s Story is broadcast on BBC One on Monday 11 April at 19:30 BST. Catch up on BBC iPlayer

Our Aims: About Us

To support users and ex-users of psychiatric services in the Manchester area. The organisation provides a forum for services users to have a bona fide say in planning and provision of mental health services.

Protesters in King’s Lynn fight against mental health service cuts

Protesters took to the streets of King’s Lynn to voice their anger at what they described as “continuous” cutbacks to mental health services in west Norfolk.

Mental health cuts protest

A protest march against cuts to mental health services and the Fermoy Unit at the QEH took place in King's Lynn town centre. Picture: Matthew Usher.

More than 100 campaigners marched from The Walks through the town centre before finishing outside the Majestic Cinema.

Peter Smith, former parliamentary candidate for south-west Norfolk said: “We are in the fight of our lives here.”

The protest was triggered by the Fermoy Unit, an in-patient NHS facility in Lynn for mental health, which campaigners say faces an uncertain future. The unit was briefly closed to new admissions earlier this month, but reopened last week, albeit with fewer beds.

Mr Smith said: “In my lifetime we have never had to fight like this, but what is the alternative?”

But Debbie White, director of operations for Norfolk at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said there were now no plans to axe the Fermoy Unit.

She added: “It is right that mental health services should be valued and funded on the same level as acute health services, and it is understandable people feel passionate about the Fermoy Unit remaining open.”

Labour party activist Jo Rust insisted the issue would not disappear. She said: “They have been talking about closing it for a long time. We will fight and we will not let them do that.”

Beth Anthony, 18 of Dersingham, said: “We are here to protest against the continuous cuts to the mental health service, we think it’s unacceptable. My younger brother suffers from poor mental health and has to travel to London... That is to the detriment of my family because we have to pay for him to go down by train every single month.”